There has been a big rebellion in TMC after the defeat in West Bengal elections. Now party leader Abhishek Banerjee has met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and demanded to speed up the disqualification proceedings against 20 rebel MPs under the anti-defection law.
New Delhi [भारत]July 27 (ANI): The tussle within the Trinamool Congress (TMC) over its defeat in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections reached the corridors of Parliament on Monday, when TMC parliamentary party leader Abhishek Banerjee held an important meeting with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.
Discussion with Speaker on disqualification and merger of rebel MPs
The discussion, which lasted for 20 minutes, focused on TMC’s demand to expedite the disqualification proceedings against 20 rebel MPs. These MPs, including veteran leaders Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Dr Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, had rebelled against the party in June following internal discord following their election defeat. To avoid the Tenth Schedule (anti-defection law), the rebel faction (which represents more than two-thirds of TMC’s 28 Lok Sabha members) announced its merger with the Tripura-based Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI). Although Speaker Birla has made separate seating arrangements for the 20 rebel MPs in the House, he reportedly hesitated to finalize their disqualification status or formally approve the merger with the NCPI.
Abhishek Banerjee pressured Speaker Om Birla to expedite the disqualification petitions against the rebels and modify the seating arrangement for the remaining 8 loyal TMC MPs. The move has already created a stir in parliamentary corridors as opposition parties had walked out of the pre-session all-party meeting protesting against the official invitation to the NCPI before a formal decision by the Speaker.
Opposition protests over invitation to NCPI
Ahead of the monsoon session, several opposition parties staged a symbolic walkout protesting the invitation extended to the NCPI from an all-party meeting called by the central government. Opposition leaders alleged that inviting the NCPI is a violation of parliamentary norms, arguing that the merger of rebel TMC MPs with the NCPI has not yet been formally recognized or approved by the Speaker. The opposition leaders later rejoined the meeting after registering their protest.
As the monsoon session of Parliament began on Monday, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla approved separate sitting arrangements for 20 rebel MPs. However, the official merger of rebel TMC MPs with NCPI is still pending. (ANI)
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianetnews Editorial staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)